I remember the first day I started at Transworld. I was just about 19 or so, and it was my first real internship; what would eventually become a job. I was so nervous – hovering over the photocopier at 9am, looking up and seeing Grant Brittain at his desk and my favorite pro skateboarders, snowboarders, and surfers walking down the corridors. I loved that gig, it was a dream job. To go from reading these magazines cover to cover as a youth – Transworld SKATEboarding, SNOWboarding, and WARP – and then to be in it, behind it, and determining it… I knew it was a priceless opportunity. I interned at Transworld for a year for free, just for the experience, to have something to pad my resume with, and the networking alone. Most of all, I was grateful to be around the editorial staff at Warp (what would then become Stance), people who I respect and am inspired by to this day.
A few years ago, Transworld Media moved buildings to Carlsbad, not far from the original Airport Rd. headquarters in O’side. First thing this morning, we stopped by to say Hi to the Skateboarding editorial staff. Such a great and well-respected team over here…
I’m not sure if you remember this Rodney Mullen cover, but I think Seu shot it. It ended up being one of TWS’ best-selling issues of all time.
…and this was one of the worst. I believe this was under the art direction of Ted Newsome (who I eventually worked under at Stance). Ted was such a creative visionary. Inspired more by design-driven layout publications like Raygun and Bikini, he knew there was something different and fresh about a skate magazine cover without a literal action shot of skateboarding. At the time, totally slept upon. In hindsight, most skaters would agree this was one of the best Transworld covers ever.
Rest in paradise, Eric Stricker.
Into the belly of the beast..!
Anyways, it was cool to see where Transworld is at these days, their focus on content and web and video – spaces that were barely wondered about back when I was onboard. When I started, Transworld SURF was just kickstarting. That magazine closed its doors a few months back. As turbulent as the media business is, it still intrigues me – to the point where media is the core and heart of our company. We’re all storytellers at heart and trying to get those stories out to the world. Support this group right here – they are the best to do it. Without them, who would inform us?
